An Illinois county's coroner cannot be held liable for a former official's "abhorrent" practice of saving his examination subjects' skulls because the conduct itself was illegal and not part of his state-imposed duty to return bodily remains, a split Seventh Circuit panel has ruled.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Stolen Skull Can't Lead To Ill. County Liability, 7th Circ. Says

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois county's coroner cannot be held liable for a former official's "abhorrent" practice of saving his examination subjects' skulls because the conduct itself was illegal and not part of his state-imposed duty to return bodily remains, a split Seventh Circuit panel has ruled.

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Crypto Firm BlockFills Gets OK For $3.25M Ch. 11 Sale

By Clara Geoghegan

A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday agreed to approve the $3.25 million sale of cryptocurrency financial technology firm BlockFills to a Belgian digital asset investment group as BlockFills prepares for a Chapter 11 plan confirmation hearing.

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Illinois Adds Taxes On Digital Ads, Crypto, Prediction Markets

By Maria Koklanaris

Illinois will tax digital advertising, social media platforms, cryptocurrency, prediction markets and more under a nearly $56 billion budget signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.

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7th Circ. Scraps American Airlines Toxic Uniforms Suit

By Linda Chiem

The Seventh Circuit said Tuesday that American Airlines employees suing over allegedly toxic uniforms didn't have sufficient expert evidence suggesting the uniforms triggered their allergic reactions and other health symptoms, rejecting their bid to invoke the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur to infer a defect or negligence.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Wash. Judge Won't Revisit Order On Ed. Dept. School Grants

By Joyce Hanson

A federal judge in Seattle will not reconsider her decision declining to enforce an earlier order barring the U.S. Department of Education from ceasing school mental health grants, saying Washington and other plaintiff states have not shown that the court erred.

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LITIGATION

Judge Won't Nix Minor's Guardian In Ethiopia Crash Suit

By Mike Curley

An Illinois federal judge won't remove a court-appointed independent guardian for the minor child of a victim of the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, saying the litigation behavior of the child's grandparents in opposing the appointment has only reinforced the need for one.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Fannie, Freddie AI Rules Raise Stakes For Mortgage Lenders

Artificial intelligence governance frameworks recently released by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac impose monitoring and vendor oversight standards on mortgage lenders, potentially reshaping secondary-market eligibility, fair lending reviews and risk management as compliance deadlines approach, says Brendan Palfreyman at Harris Beach.

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The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

K&L Gates Adds Ex-DOJ Atty, WH Cyber Director Office's GC

By Jack Rodgers

The former acting general counsel for the White House's Office of the National Cyber Director, who most recently worked as U.S. digital currency counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, has joined K&L Gates LLP as a partner.

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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Winston Taylor Fills Leadership Roles In DC, Miami, Europe

By Madison Arnold

Winston Taylor announced Wednesday that it made senior appointments across four major commercial centers around the globe.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Burns Charest

Clifford Law Offices

Cotchett Pitre

Fitzpatrick Hunt

Greenberg Traurig

Harris Beach Murtha

Hart McLaughlin

Heyl Royster

James Kelly Law Firm

K&L Gates

Law Offices of Bruce Fein

Lewis Brisbois

McDermott Will & Schulte

Motley Rice

O'Melveny & Myers

Perkins Coie

Peyrot & Associates

Power Rogers

Prime Legal LLC

Seila Law

Sullivan & Cromwell

Vaziri Law LLC

Winston Taylor

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Airlines Group Inc.

American Bar Association

Arthrex Inc.

Chicago Blackhawks

Collins Aerospace Inc.

Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise

FCA US LLC

Federal National Mortgage Association

Freddie Mac

LinkedIn Corp.

McDonald's Corp.

New York State Bar Association

PSA Airlines Inc.

Reliz Ltd.

State Bar of California

The Boeing Co.

The Florida Bar

Villanova University

Washington & Lee University

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

City of New York

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Federal Housing Finance Agency

Illinois Supreme Court

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

Washington Attorney General's Office